“Fifteen years ago, this would have been insider trading, but that quaint concept had disappeared a decade or two ago when so many brokers were doing it that it was impossible to jail them all. Now it was called smart trading.”
This novel by Max Barry presents a darkly comedic vision of a world where the government has been largely dismantled and replaced by corporate entities. In this society, citizens adopt the surnames of the companies they work for, and traditional government roles have been taken over by private corporations. The story follows various characters navigating this altered world, including a law enforcement officer named Jennifer Government. The book uses its speculative premise to explore themes of corporate power, the privatization of public services, and the potential consequences of unchecked commercial influence on society. The narrative blends elements of satire with thriller conventions to examine contemporary anxieties about the relationship between business and government. more
“Raccoons are beyond fear, and they are assholes.”
“The weatherman is always as honest as he is vague.”